Wallpaper to keep Secrets Safe

NEW Wallpaper developed by the British defence contactor BAE Systems at the request of the UK's telecoms regulator, Ofcom, which can block
Wi-Fi signals while allowing GSM and 3G mobile (cell) phone signals to pass through yet witch prevents outsiders gaining access to a secure network by
using office Wi-Fi networks.

The technology used is based on Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) sheeting used to hide radar antennas on warships or aircraft by electrically setting
it to allow through only the precise frequency the antenna wants to transmit and receive, while absorbing all other frequencies Such as those of the
incoming radar, or in this case Wi-Fi and allowing mobile (cell) phone

New Scientist
BAE's anti-Wi-Fi wallpaper is made from a 0.1-millimetre-thick sheet of kapton, the same plastic used to make flexible printed circuit boards in
lightweight portable gadgets like camcorders. The kapton is coated on each side with a thin film of copper.

On one side most of the copper is removed, leaving a grid of copper crosses. On the other side, matching crosses, turned through 45 degrees, are
etched away leaving a film of copper with a grid of cross-shaped holes. BAE says that by carefully changing the size of the crosses and their spacing,
the sheet can pass precisely defined frequencies, while blocking all others.

At that price £500 (approximately $250-300) per square metre, I doubt many large corporations or governments could refuse that kind of protection from
any would be hacker (or professional spook) with an 802.11 card.

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